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32 .\" @(#)cp.1 8.3 (Berkeley) 4/18/94
45 .Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
49 .Ar source_file target_file
53 .Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
57 .Ar source_file ... target_directory
59 In the first synopsis form, the
61 utility copies the contents of the
65 In the second synopsis form,
66 the contents of each named
68 is copied to the destination
69 .Ar target_directory .
70 The names of the files themselves are not changed.
73 detects an attempt to copy a file to itself, the copy will fail.
75 The following options are available:
80 option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed.
81 (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)
85 option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
89 option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
94 designates a directory,
96 copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point.
101 the contents of the directory are copied rather than the
103 This option also causes symbolic links to be copied, rather than
104 indirected through, and for
106 to create special files rather than copying them as normal files.
107 Created directories have the same mode as the corresponding source
108 directory, unmodified by the process' umask.
112 copies hard linked files as separate files.
113 If you need to preserve hard links, consider using
124 For each existing destination pathname, remove it and
125 create a new file, without prompting for confirmation
126 regardless of its permissions.
129 option overrides any previous
137 to write a prompt to the standard error output before copying a file
138 that would overwrite an existing file.
139 If the response from the standard input begins with the character
143 the file copy is attempted.
146 option overrides any previous
152 Create hard links to regular files in a hierarchy instead of copying.
154 Do not overwrite an existing file.
157 option overrides any previous
165 to preserve the following attributes of each source
166 file in the copy: modification time, access time,
167 file flags, file mode, ACL, user ID, and group ID, as allowed by permissions.
169 If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message
170 is displayed and the exit value is not altered.
172 If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on and the user ID cannot
173 be preserved, the set-user-ID bit is not preserved
174 in the copy's permissions.
175 If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on and the group ID cannot
176 be preserved, the set-group-ID bit is not preserved
177 in the copy's permissions.
178 If the source file has both its set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits on,
179 and either the user ID or group ID cannot be preserved, neither
180 the set-user-ID nor set-group-ID bits are preserved in the copy's
183 Create symbolic links to regular files in a hierarchy instead of copying.
187 to be verbose, showing files as they are copied.
189 File system mount points are not traversed.
192 For each destination file that already exists, its contents are
193 overwritten if permissions allow.
194 Its mode, user ID, and group
195 ID are unchanged unless the
197 option was specified.
199 In the second synopsis form,
201 must exist unless there is only one named
203 which is a directory and the
207 If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is
208 used as modified by the file mode creation mask
212 If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on, that bit is removed
213 unless both the source file and the destination file are owned by the
215 If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on, that bit is removed
216 unless both the source file and the destination file are in the same
217 group and the user is a member of that group.
218 If both the set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits are set, all of the above
219 conditions must be fulfilled or both bits are removed.
221 Appropriate permissions are required for file creation or overwriting.
223 Symbolic links are always followed unless the
225 flag is set, in which case symbolic links are not followed, by default.
230 flags (in conjunction with the
232 flag) cause symbolic links to be followed as described above.
238 options are ignored unless the
241 In addition, these options override each other and the
242 command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
252 signal, the current input and output file and the percentage complete
253 will be written to the standard output.
264 Copy a group of files to the
272 and all of its contents (including any subdirectories) to the
276 .Dl $ cp -R junk /tmp
278 Historic versions of the
283 This implementation supports that option, however, its behavior
284 is different from historical
288 is strongly discouraged as the behavior is
289 implementation-dependent.
295 and works the same unless modified by other flags.
296 Historical implementations
299 differ as they copy special files as normal
300 files while recreating a hierarchy.
309 options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.
319 command is expected to be